When he campaigned for governor in 1974 - and again in 2010 - Democrat Jerry Brown promised to be a champion of transparency in government.

But in his third term, the California governor appears to be reluctant to reveal his schedule, attending benefits, meetings with political and corporate insiders, and even charity events without advising the press or the public.

The governor's office didn't release a full list of attendees, but Brown told The Chronicle that Rice and Schmidt did not attend. Former Gov. Gray Davis and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown were, however, among those participating in the discussion of Gov. Brown's budget proposals.

Gil Duran, the governor's spokesman, called the Think Long session a "private meeting."

Complying with law

Duran argues that his boss is fully "in compliance with the law" regarding posting events and noted "there's a difference between a public event and a group private meeting."

But last month alone, on days his office said he would have "no public events," Brown attended a Feb. 23 fundraiser for his Oakland Military Academy in Jack London Square, a Feb. 22 Crime Victims United of California fundraiser in Sacramento, and a Feb. 11 Chinese New Year-related event in San Francisco, where he was a listed speaker.

Asked Friday about his pledge to engage in transparent government, Brown told The Chronicle - correctly - that "I'm meeting with the press every week in a very open forum ... give and take, and no talking points."

Still, critics and political observers say the Brown administration's tight-lipped scheduling threatens to create a perception that he isn't making good on his promises of transparency and even favors back-room meetings over public events.

"It's ironic that someone who has tried to position himself as a 'man of the people,' open and transparent ... hasn't made an effort to have many public events - and certainly hasn't been telling people what he's been doing," said Julie Soderlund, a Sacramento GOP strategist who served as spokeswoman for former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Brown's current practice, she argues, dramatizes that "he hasn't been out selling his budget plan to the people of California or having town hall meetings. ... He's opted for a strategy to keep him out of the public spotlight."

Accessible politician

Another Sacramento GOP strategist, Rob Stutzman, a former spokesman and adviser to Schwarzenegger, acknowledges that Brown has managed a "very authentic" profile so far and has been more accessible than most California politicians.

"He walks around Sacramento; he and (his wife, Anne Gust Brown) can be seen around town in the evenings, so he's open and available," Stutzman said. "But when it comes to doing official business, he has seemed a bit more cloistered. It's not hurting him now, but over time it could."

But "in general, the public is entitled to know pretty much anything its chief executive is doing," he said. "We don't get to know ... what he had for breakfast. We just need to know what's not private - the basic facts and on a timely basis."

Garry South, former senior adviser to Davis, said that while fundraising events and private meetings in Davis' office were often not publicized, the difference is that "our official events were almost always calendered and noticed. We put out a daily schedule."

"A public event - even though it's not open to the general public - should be publicly noticed," South said.

While Schwarzenegger also rarely released notices of fundraising events, his office did put out a detailed daily schedule and calender, Soderlund said, because "there was an expectation from media and the public" that the taxpayers deserved to know "where he was going and who he was meeting with."

Asked why he doesn't simply announce his full schedule, Brown said, with a laugh, that very often he simply doesn't know it.

"I don't like to commit too far in advance," he said.

Focused on budget

Duran said Brown's focus on the most critical issue facing California, the budget's $26.6 billion deficit, means "a lot of his work is private meetings - and we're not trying to get into the news ... or TV every day."

Duran also rejected the comparisons with the past.

"The Schwarzenegger (administration) did it their way and got their own results," said Duran. "I don't think we need their advice to do things."

And Brown, he said, simply rejects the traditional formulas that call for a political "dog and pony show."